Technology A Boon To Students

May 22, 1988|By Pat LaMee of The Sentinel Staff

DAYTONA BEACH — John LaFranca sits before the 25-inch screen of a special talking computer. The 4-year-old, who is legally blind, learns that by touching the switch he can make the screen come alive with animated figures or shapes.

John has little control over the movements of his arms, but with the help of his teacher, Mark Lear, he can press the 8-inch square to work the computer program.

The new equipment is for John and the other 142 students at Hillcrest Elementary, a special educational center operated by the Volusia County School Board for children with multiple handicaps, said Principal Kristy Skuda.

The big-screen computer provides a way for students who are visually impaired to see some figures and shapes on the screen while hearing the machine give instructions or talk about the alphabet, Lear said. It helps the students learn letters and words.

For John, ''it helps stimulate his usable vision, but we can't measure the improvement because he can't speak,'' said Lear.

''The computer is a teaching aid and reinforces the information that is taught in the classroom, like what is left and right and how to put objects to the left and right of a computer screen,'' he said.

Daytona Beach Lions Club members donated $5,135 to buy the computer for the school's recently established Vision Center. A variety of educational tools are part of the center, which accepts students from across the county who range in age from infancy to 21.

Students are able to learn from other computers by using an alphabet- keyboard with 2-inch letters. Some press a ''touch window'' and can follow a series of instructions from the computer's synthesized voice.

''It's a very innovative vision stimulation room,'' said Skuda.

Included in the room are electronic communication devices used by students who can't talk. Each ''speaking'' box, which sells for $400, has 30 spaces on its keyboard and is activated by the touch of one finger.

When the space showing a glass of water is pressed, the computer says: ''I'm thirsty.'' Other messages include: Turn me over; call the nurse; let's go home, and I need a tissue.

Skuda and school volunteer Stanley Meleski sought donations from the community to buy six of the devices that can be used at school and then taken home by students who can't speak.

''Now these kids can get some attention without throwing a tantrum,'' said Meleski, who also worked with Skuda to raise $3,000 to buy two wheelchairs and to repair several others.

Other special equipment at the center includes:

-- A black light box -- a small dark area in which an ultraviolet light shines on various objects to make them glow. This increases a student's ability to follow moving objects with his or her eyes, and to match colors and shapes.

-- A light box, which uses a fluorescent light behind objects to provide a contrast so that students can identify and match shapes and colors. The boxes are designed to improve visual ability so that students may be able see more clearly in regular lighting.

-- A single-image projector, which puts slide pictures on a separate screen or its own built-in screen, depending on the needs of the student. It allows students to sit in front of the screen as closely as needed for them to see. They learn to identify pictures of objects or people.